Great Pyramid of Giza

Photo by Elizabeth LoCicero

Turquoise waters. Splendid corals. Tropical sea creatures. Child-friendly seaside resorts. In recent years, Egypt has become Africa's answer to the Caribbean. Families - from budget conscious to luxury travelers - are flocking here. And while it may be tempting to spend a week or more building sandcastles and snorkeling, mummies, pharaohs and camel treks are equally exciting. Even for children! Cruise the Nile from Luxor to Aswan or sail upriver on a felucca. Explore the ancient settlement of Edfu. Visit the Temple of Horus. Tour the Valley of the Kings. Take a day trip to Abu Simbel and marvel at the Great Temple of Ramses II. Travel to Cairo and experience ancient and modern Egypt. Explore the Pyramids of Giza inside and out. Ogle at King Tut's tomb. Stroll the narrow streets of Khan al-Khalili, an age-old bazaar. Head west over land and discover the eastern reaches of the Sahara. Take a camel trek in the White Desert and see, firsthand, the effects of weathering and erosion on the shape of the land. Follow the Great Caravan Route and tour living as well as abandoned desert oases. Make your way to Siwa and, in addition to learning the secrets of Shali, explore the Great Sand Sea. Yet as with any family vacation too much of a good thing can quickly become boring. Alternate history and culture with adventure and movement and get the kids involved in planning a family holiday to Egypt. What better place than Egypt, a cornerstone of most elementary curriculums, for kids to play travel guide and even teach mom and dad?

Interest in ancient Egypt precedes the discovery of King Tut. Tales of mummies, sphinxes and temples, 30 centuries in the making, have intrigued adventurers since the time of Napoleon. And while Egyptomania has waxed and waned over the years, ancient Egypt is the early culture we know most about. Discover the pharaohs and find out who ruled during the New, Middle and Old Kingdoms. Introduce the kids to Egyptian mythology and find out how the ancient Egyptians viewed the world. Learn to decipher hieroglyphics and interpret wall paintings. But don't limit your discovery to the communities along the Nile. Start your inquiry with prehistoric and predynastic Egypt when the brown desert was a lush green savannah. And end your journey in modern times after following Egypt from one foreign ruler to another. Travel to Egypt with children provides an opportunity to learn more.

Online maps are a great travel planning resource and a great way to get the kids involved in a family vacation. Use online maps to pinpoint your family travel destination and plan your itinerary. Map ancient Egypt and identify points of interest in Upper and Lower Egypt. Plot your route with an Egyptian railway map and travel in a different way. Learn more about the geography of Egypt as well as the country's administrative boundaries. Find your way along the caravan route and discover Egypt's desert oases.

Books are a great way to introduce younger children to a new adventure and get teens and tweens ready for a family trip. Discover books by notable Egyptian authors. Explore Egypt through fact and fiction. Embark on a different kind of family journey.

The ancient Egyptians invented writing and were the first culture to erect a stone monument. And they were the first people to incorporate music and dance into religious ceremonies and everyday life. While little is known of the rhythm and sound, the importance of music is evidenced in wall paintings and the evolution in the instruments played can be followed overtime. Harps, flutes and double clarinets were played in the Old Kingdom. Percussion instruments, lyres and lutes, likely borrowed from neighboring cultures, were incorporated into ancient Egyptian song during the Middle Kingdom. But whether ancient Egyptian music is a precursor to modern Egyptian song remains a mystery. The Arabic music played in Egypt today is believed to be rooted in the courts of Islam between the 7th and 13th centuries. Sufi and Greek influence is noted in the music of that time but the hand of the ancient Egyptians is, as of yet, unproved.

Read Egypt newspapers online and brush up on Egyptian current events from politics to economics and sports to entertainment before you depart on a trip with kids. Get Egypt news and discover what Egyptians are reading. Daily Egypt News is only independent source for Egyptian news. Al-Ahram Weekly is a widely circulated government affiliated newspaper. Egypt Daily News aggregates the local news.

Online resources make learning about ancient Egypt lots of fun. Did you know that hieroglyphics were written in rows and columns and can be read from right to left and left to right but only from top to bottom? Did you know that the ancient Egyptians had two forms of writing, hieroglyphics and hieratic? Which one do you think they used to write on tombs? Did you know that the ancient Egyptians were the first culture to use science? Or that you can solve math problems using hieroglyphs?